Washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, comprising a housing and a plastic base having a plate-like base surface, the monolayer or multilayer base having integral one-piece fastening elements of functional units and/or integral one-piece housings or housing parts of such functional units. The lower face of the plastic base has a ribbed honeycomb structure which is open towards the surface and has webs between the cells, which extend substantially perpendicular to the surface of the base.

PRIORITY

This application is a national stage application of PCT/EP2018/066451 filed on Jun. 20, 2018 titled Washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, which claims priority to German Patent Application number 202017103815.7 filed on Jun. 27, 2017.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher comprising a housing and a plastic base.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

DE 10 2010 016 754 B3 relates to a laundry treating machine, such as a washing machine or tumble dryer, comprising a drum that is pivotably supported in a housing, where the housing has a base pan in the base area that is made of a non-corrosive material, which includes a plate-shaped surface in the base area of the housing for collecting leakage and/or condensate liquid, wherein strips made of a material of higher stiffness are arranged at least at the longitudinal sides of the plate-shaped surface for determining base elements.

From DE 3644053 A1, a dishwasher, a washing machine or the like having a collecting tray for leakage water has been known. The collecting tray for leakage water in said dishwasher, washing machine or the like is provided on the bottom side at the housing of the device below the functional units, such as pumps, solenoid valves, pressure switches, and so on.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher comprising a housing and a base module made of plastic that withstands all forces acting on the module when the appliance is operated, has integrated as many as possible attachments for the functional units, and takes over all the other properties of a usual steel plate base. Another partial object of the present invention is the acoustic optimization, especially in comparison to a plastic base that is already known in the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated and described herein with reference to the various drawings, in which like reference numbers are used to denote like system components/method steps, as appropriate, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective diagram of a base of a washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher showing bearing bushes integrated into seatings for the drum shock absorbers, seatings for the supporting feet, lateral draining walls, housings for the water pump, seatings for a float, housings for the control electronics, detergent containers, and a sewage line, into the base plate; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram of the base of the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher of FIG. 1 from an alternate perspective.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

In a first embodiment, the above mentioned primary object is achieved by a washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher comprising a housing and a plastic base consisting of a plate-shaped base area in the bottom zone of the housing for collecting leakage and condensate liquid, characterized in that the one-shell or multishell base has

-   -   (a) integral mounts for functional units, especially liquor         vessel shock absorbers; pumps; solenoid valves; control         electronics; filling containers for detergents, detergent         additives or cleaning agents; sensors; water detectors; sewage         lines; flexible tubes; and/or cables; and/or     -   (b) integral housings or housing parts of functional units,         especially containers for detergents and/or cleaning agents,         pump housings, and/or control housings.

Accordingly, using the present invention, it is possible to achieve the above object. Because the base module is made of plastic, it is possible to integrate components of functional units directly as integral mounts into the base module. For example, if the base module is prepared by an injection molding method, liquor vessel shock absorbers, pumps, solenoid valves, control electronics, filling containers for detergents, detergent additives or cleaning agents, sensors, water detectors, sewage lines, flexible tubes, and/or cables, for example, can be integrated directly into the base plate.

In the same way, housings or the housing parts of functional units, such as containers for detergents and/or cleaning agents, pump housings or control housings, can be integrated into the plastic base.

“Integrally” within the meaning of the present invention means that the functional units, housings or housing parts are also made of a plastic material and are fabricated either in a single work step as components of the plastic base, or molded from a plastic material onto the plastic base in one or more subsequent work steps.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the base 100 can include bearing bushes 114, 115, 116 integrated into seatings 112 for the drum shock absorbers, seatings 118 for the supporting feet 119, lateral draining walls 130, housings 123 for the water pump, seatings 113 for a float, housings 142 for the control electronics, detergent containers 121, 122, and a sewage line 132, into the base plate 110.

Accordingly, a particular embodiment of the present invention is that the base has regions for determining foot elements on the longitudinal sides of the plate-shaped area. Thus, the housing is essentially acoustically decoupled from the support.

In another embodiment of the present invention, said washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher is further characterized in that said housing has a waste water pump or a circulation pump 123 that is integrally molded onto the base 100. This is associated with excellent sound absorbing as well as the additional material savings of a plastic housing of the pump, which would otherwise have to be attached to the base with some effort.

FIG. 1 additionally shows one of the necessary water draining walls 130, which is molded integrally onto the plastic base in this case. This is also associated with a considerable saving of work steps.

Particularly preferred according to the present invention is a plastic base comprising open-surface honeycomb ribs 141, 131, 111 with cell webs that extend substantially vertically to the surface of the base. In FIG. 1, such honeycomb ribs can be seen on one lateral wall 140.

In FIG. 2, it can be seen that not only the bottom side of the plastic base 100, but also a lateral water draining wall 130 has corresponding honeycomb ribs 131.

Accordingly, a particular embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the honeycomb ribs 111 cover the bottom side of the plastic base 100 on a part of the area, or completely. Thus, the honeycomb ribs can be extended to those areas of the base 100 in which a stiffening of the base module or improved acoustic properties are necessary or reasonable.

It is known that the hexagonal structure of a honeycomb cell has proven particularly advantageous, so that this embodiment is particularly preferred also according to the invention.

Additionally or alternatively, the honeycomb ribs 111, 131, 141 may also be present in the form of a so-called Voronoi structure for stiffening particular structural areas of the plastic base. As may be known, the term “Voronoi structure” refers to a partitioning of space into regions that are determined by a predetermined set of points of space. Each region is determined by exactly one center and includes all points of space that are closer to the center of the region than to any other center in terms of Euclidean metric. Thus, regions of the plastic base 100 that require a particular structural reinforcement can be determined for honeycomb ribs by corresponding calculations.

In addition to the bottom side of the plastic base 100, it is of course also possible to provide the above defined honeycomb ribs also on the exterior face of the water draining walls 130, in which complete or partial covering of the exterior face is possible also here.

The plastic base 100 according to the invention may also be prepared from one or more similar or different thermoplastic or thermosetting plastic materials. Particularly preferred according to the present invention are thermoplastic materials, because these are excellently suitable for the purposes of the present invention in an injection molding method. A polyolefin, especially polypropylene, optionally filled with fibers, is more preferably employed according to the present invention. Particularly preferred according to the present invention is a degree of filling of the plastic material within a range of from 20 to 40% by weight, based on the total mass of plastic and fibers.

In addition to inorganic fibers, organic fibers may also be employed according to the invention. However, glass fibers are particularly preferred according to the present innovation, because they provide the plastic material with a high stiffness. 

1. A washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher comprising a housing and a plastic base consisting of a plate-shaped base area in a bottom zone of the housing for collecting leakage and condensate liquid, wherein the plastic base is a one-shell or multishell base comprising at least one of: (a) integral mounts for functional units including at least one of liquor vessel shock absorbers, pumps, solenoid valves, control electronics, filling containers, sensors, water detectors, sewage lines, flexible tubes, and cables; and (b) integral housings or housing parts of functional units including at least one of liquid containers, pump housings, and control housings.
 2. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 1, wherein areas for determining base elements are arranged at longitudinal sides of the plastic base.
 3. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 1, wherein the integral housings include at least one of a waste water pump and a circulation pump integrally molded onto the plastic base.
 4. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 1, wherein lateral water draining walls are integrally molded onto the plastic base.
 5. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 1, wherein a bottom side of the plastic base has open-surface honeycomb ribs with cell webs that extend substantially vertically to the surface of the plastic base.
 6. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 5, wherein the honeycomb ribs cover the bottom side of the plastic base on at least a part of the area.
 7. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 5, wherein a cell structure of the honeycomb ribs has a hexagonal structure.
 8. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 5, wherein the honeycomb ribs correspond to a Voronoi structure.
 9. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 5, wherein the honeycomb ribs at least partially cover an exterior face of water draining walls integrally molded onto the plastic base.
 10. The washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher according to claim 1, wherein the plastic base comprises a thermoplastic material, especially polypropylene, optionally filled with fibers. 